The Orange State

After New York we flew down to Orlando, Florida.

The first day we went to Universal Studios, Florida and the adjacent Universal's Islands of Adventure. At the Islands of Adventure there were some pretty good roller coasters. The Dueling Dragons wasn't bad, although it was a bit of a worry that they had to stop the ride for a few minutes when something went wrong.

The scarier ride was the Hulk. It started off creeping up a slope where it feels like you're going to accelerate down the other side but instead you start accelerating before you get to the top! It was fun but really very intense. Dad said it was about as intense as his ride in a MiG fighter jet!

Something interesting I noticed about these two rollercoasters was signs on the way in saying something like "People come in all different shapes. Rows 3 and 6 have been modified to accommodate these variations." That is to say, as we boarded the ride, the guard directed the fatties to those two rows. A necessary thing in contemporary America. (I must say, these things serve as a bit of a reminder to me not to eat too much American food and not to let the car make me too lazy!)

The rollercoasters were good but what was quite new to me was Shrek 4D. Not only is the movie 3D but the seats also move. And there's more special effects. In one scene where a bunch of spiders appear (in 3D) you suddenly feel something brushing your legs! The seats are equipped with little air jets for this as well as water jets in the seat in front of you. Erin was particularly impressed (read: disgusted) when we felt Donkey's sneeze in 4D!